The Harbinger's Children (Guardians Of The Arcane Chronicles Vol. 2)

Chapter 6: Writhe

Fun Fact: Although spellcrafts were originally created as a way to record mortal pacts with deities, magis soon found other purposes for these simple storage devices. Some were innocent enough; a simple recording of spells to tidy up one's house. Others were a little sinister; a means to get euphoric with the slight drawback of severe addiction

Most spellcrafts come in the form of books/tomes, although a rare few are magically carved into the ground and mountain walls.

~ ~ ~

Sirius City burned, and Felix watched from the skies. Wind rippled his hair as he flew at the comfortable speed of an average airship, closing in on his target location. He had dropped off the wounded constable at a makeshift refugee shelter, but he quickly left the place. He needed to get to her.

The boy silently increased his speed.

His friends should be able to take care of themselves, but not her. She was still a child, and her parents were magis. He could only pray that they had not employed any magic yet.

The Guardian examined the strange tear-shaped crystal in his hands again to keep his mind away from spiralling thoughts. The ground had been littered with these objects when he killed all the abominations, but he still had no idea what they were. Its simplistic shape was not giving him any clues either.

Felix tilted his body into a nosedive, closing in rapidly on the lonely house that sat on the outskirts of the city.

Rats scampered away from the shadow looming over them. A small breeze swept the fallen leaves as a pair of feet swished towards them, hovering for a moment before touching the ground gently.

Felix walked towards the house in front of him, trying to stay as quiet as possible. It was far enough from other humans to be safe from the transformed monsters, but he still did not want to risk attracting the attention of pretty much anything else.

"Aglaia, are you in?" He tapped the door lightly.

There was no answer.

His heart rate spiked as he raised his hand to knock again, but it opened slightly this time. A pair of eyes peeked upwards at him.

"Oh, Felix. Thank the heavens you're alright." Aglaia let him in. "There are monsters everywhere. What is happening?"

"I've no clue either." Felix shifted his gaze to the couple in the house. They were looking at him nervously, although they did not seem to be hostile. He raised a placating hand just in case.

"Hi, you must be Mister and Missus Helenus." Felix gave his best smile. "I'm Guardian Felix Pagonis, Aglaia's mentor. Nice to meet you."

"You're a Guardian?" Mrs. Helenus' voice sounded surprisingly frail for someone who looked her age. "Does that mean you know what's going on? Why are we suddenly being attacked by these ugly monsters?"

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what's happening too." Felix chuckled nervously. "But from what I've observed, magis get transformed into these monsters when they attempt to use magic. I suspect that the arcani in our air has been corrupted somehow. So please, under any circumstances, do not use magic for now."

"Fellow magis?" Mr. Helenus croaked in fear. "Oh dear, how are we to protect ourselves if we can't use magic?"

"It seems that only magic in the air has been poisoned," he replied. "Storages of arcani such as wands, technomagick weapons, and even metas, appear to still be able to dispense magic."

Felix produced a wand from his coat pocket and gave it to them.

"Unfortunately, I only have one teleportation wand here," he continued. "Fighting these monsters is not an option for the both of you, so I'll need you to cast the teleportation spell at the first sign of trouble."